Solid Catalyst In The Synthesis Of Long Chain Alkyl Phenols

The long chain alkylphenol is one of primary materials for synthesis of alkylphenol poloxyethylene(APEO) non-ionic surface active agent. For a long time, these compounds(APEO) were synthesized by reaction long chain end alkyl or the long chain halogenated hydrocarbon with phenol. The cost of these two raw materials is too high for long chain alkylphenol synthesizing, especially for the long chain end alkyl. Compared with the long chain end alkyl and the long chain halogenated hydrocarbon, long chain alcohol is easy to get. It has unique superiority to reduce the cost of APEO production.Aiming at reducing the cost of APEO production, we investigated the synthesis of long chain using long chain alcohol as alkylating reagent which react with the phenol directly and the effects to alkylation reaction under different catalyst existence. We discussed the catalyses properties of four catalyzers: concentrated sulfuric acid,AlCl₃, composite catalyst of Al₂O₃—AlCl₃ and solid superacid Fe₂O₃·SO₄^2- toalkylation reaction.The results showed that the Fe₂O₃·SO₄^2- had outstanding catalysis ability for the alkylation reaction finished by reacting long chain alcohol with phenol: The merits of this process were simple and reaction time became shorter and the optimum catalytic effect could be obtained when calcination temperature was 550℃. The optimum mole ratio of phenol to alcohol, reaction temperature, reaction time, and catalyst dosage slightly increased along with the growth of alkyl chain carbon number. When the material ratio was 1.0～1.2 (mol/mol) and the reaction time was 180²40min? the maximum yield(68.6%) could be obtained.